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The Globe and Mail Editorial Board offered a scathing assessment of the Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada’s costs and productivity. My colleagues and I must take these criticisms to heart.
To say that the Senate doesn’t change quickly, and that working there differs from my past life as an entrepreneur — those are beyond understatements. More than 150 years worth of traditions, practices and rules create a culture that isn’t overly agile. It’s the toughest job I’ve ever had, in the most complex organization I’ve ever worked in, yet I believe in the role of the Senate more than ever.
Regardless, we must begin to identify and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) that will enable us to better focus our efforts, streamline our operations and explain the value of our distinct role. Collectively, we examine a remarkable diversity of complex policy issues. In doing so, we're constitutionally responsible for giving voice to underrepresented groups. We focus on improving legislation, including correcting errors and oversights, and providing observations to help guide its implementation. A lingering question is how firmly the unelected Senate should push back against an elected government, and in what situations?
Productivity-based KPIs rarely exist in any legislative or government organization, or even in legislation itself — yet are crucial to empowering continuous improvement. The Globe’s opinion piece cited a KPI related to the Senate's “substantive reports”. What qualifies as a substantive report? How should we measure the value of those reports? Is it by volume as the Globe suggests? Is it by length? Is it the extent to which the reports help to improve the effectiveness of government policy? On that last measure, I’m not at all sure that our Banking Committee's efforts have been successful in convincing the current Government to better support innovation in our data-driven economy.
Whether the Senate is sitting or not, I continue to use my role to highlight opportunities for the federal government to catalyze Canadian innovators to solve big public policy issues, as compared to the Government currently exercising far too much control over that process (in my opinion). Canadian innovators can help us to solve big existential problems, like the climate crisis, while delivering greater prosperity to future generations. I’ve no idea what productivity-based KPI would measure the value, if any, of that work.
Still, I believe that my colleagues and I must hear and act on criticisms, like the Globe’s, by starting to identify and report on productivity-based KPIs.
I remain deeply honoured and privileged to have the responsibilities that come with this role. My work is guided by the one request Prime Minister Trudeau made when he appointed me and that was to "challenge the Government". I try to do so respectfully and collegially, and with the unrelenting belief that we'll never have an innovative economy without an innovative government. |